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Monday, April 30, 2007

Well the long week end has been great, some diving and even some guys getting waves.

I almost did not dive on Friday, but a mate needed help skippering his boat. So in a flash I was out at sea, we had to change the temperature recorder off Sheffield beach. The water was not great about 4 -5m vis, but we were out there and in our kit so we jumped to try our luck. The first spot had loads of Tassles and Bronzies, but other than that was a bit quiet.

I had my 9 year old son Braiden with me and he was keen to get in so we moved onto a shallow point. It was almost time to go, when I spotted a good sized Rock Salmon. I normally send Braidy down on the fish, but they are usually very skittish. When I got to the bottom in about 4m of water I noticed the Rock Salmon saw not alone and had a shoal of small Dagga with it. It was a tough choice 4-5kg Rock salmon or a 6-7kg Dagga. I took the Dagga!

I hit the surface and told Braiden to go down and I watched him line up and just miss a good sized Dagga. After sorting out my line on my reelgun I dived down on a ledge only a few meters from where we saw the Dagga. The ledge turned out to have a huge cave underneath it jam packed with Dagga. I got another one, and Braiden tried but at 5m down and a couple meters into the cave I think it was a bit past his ability.

The disappointment in his eyes as the tears welled up "I cant get a fish" Hopefully we can change all that up in Mozambique next week ..... smiles!

Diving from boat you can take 5 Dagga with only one large one. We could have taken more fish, but 3 was enough. My mate went into the cave, saw the fish holed up and felt sorry for them. He has only been diving for about a year, and has not had spent years struggling to get an elusive Dagga. I have never seen them like this and took the opportunity with both hands.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) looks like a bomb of a day for a dive with loads of good water around and moderate winds. I have not heard of too many fish coming out other than the odd Snoek or Cuta.

Very important!!!

This Friday is Salty's Club meet. It will be at my place in Ballito. I am going to trying to get some of the 'home' footage from some of the guys recent dive trips ..... should be a good watch!

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Well there is some diving going down I am sure, at home it is looking a bit better. Tho it is still only a few meters vis , but good enough for buggs.

Zinkwazi is still looking good, and down south has some 10m vis so if it holds out we can be diving this weekend.

A strong north east is predicted for tomorrow followed by a south west through Saturday. So Sunday should have some good diving.

National Spearfishing Champs is being held down in Knysna and the boys have spent the last 2 days scouting around. Andy said that the structure and canyons are amazing down there with loads of fish. H said that it was frustrating not being able to shoot them as they were only scouting at this stage.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Driving past the sea this morning the last thing I wanted to be doing was going to work!! Do you ever feel like that??

I know that the vis is not great for diving and there are no waves, but its a pearler again! And I kind of get that, "I am missing out on something" feeling.

Again the Zinkwazi is the only spot that is diveable, which is probably too far a drive for a quick one before work.

There are some south winds coming this weekend so hopefully we will get in ... some time. It better come right .......I am getting miserable.

Coatesman

P.S check out this Comp running on the Fishing Corner Website!!

Fishing Corner / Gladiator Story Comp

Hi All

www.fishingcorner.co.za would like to invite all registered users to join in the competition for free. Gladiator Lures has been kind enough to give us a large number of fishing goods to give away for two winning prizes. If you have not registered yet click here and register for free.

1.Log onto www.gladiatorlures.co.za and have a look at there product range.2.Wright a short story using the words Gladiator, Lure, Fishing and Corner3.The two different prize categories are 1. A flowery tall story (Lie) or 2. Funny story. 4.You may enter both categories but can only win for one.5.Post the stories on the site using the "submit a story" link when logged in and post it under gladiator lie or gladiator funny section – found in the drop down box 6.Give your story a title of relevancy and remember to use actual Gladiator products in your story!7.Jas, Oliver and Shaun (Site Owners) cannot enter but will judge the stories with Jamie from gladiator Lures. 8.Must put your address and contact details at the bottom of the page (They will not be shown on the site)9.Must Live in SA or have a friend in SA that you are willing to give your prize to.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Sorry for the late vis report ...damn adsl is down again! Gotta love Telkom!

Anyway the vis has gone to the dogs up our way. The rain and easterlies although lite will not help conditions this weekend.

The Sharks board report says that the south coast is also bad. However these reports have been inaccurate of late and I have even dived in 10m plus water which was supposed to be 3 -4m by the sharks board chaps.

So if you hear of any guys spearfishing today and can get a report pls let me know. I know some chaps that would seriously appreciate a heads up.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

The sea is not looking too bad. Its not crystal actually a bit green but it is diveable.

There is very little swell and the tides are high, so there is no surf at all. But it does make for good conditions for beginners. I took my 10year old son Braiden for a dive last night .... before it got dark!!

We got our crayfish and he got a 600g crayfish in about 4m of water with no help from dad. After a couple dives I offered to help and he replied with a very clear 'No!' and went back down and wrestled the crayfish from its hole.

I am still however suffering from a nasty sinus problem, and my forehead does not release the pressure and I feel like my head is going to implode. And with a Mozambique trip coming up soon I will be nursing this sinus problem, and not pushing too many dives.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

sorry for the late vis report, there are many spots that are dive-able today. I wanted to dive but alas to much going on!! Will try go tomorrow and will be able to give a better report.

If you go to the Sharks Board Report - http://www.shark.co.za/report/surfreport.pdf (only available after 10am) you will see that Zinkwazi has been looking good. However I think the game fish are down south, as even on the good days the fishing up north has been slow.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Well it was great to wake up to a brisk south westerly this morning. Hopefully it will clean things up for tomorrow, the wind looks like it will moderate and continue to blow gently through Wednesday. This could mean 2 solid days of diving ahead!!!

The cloud cover in the morning might be a factor with it only getting light enough to dive just before 6, the clouds could shorten the dive considerably. ...... Thats if you have to rush to work like me! :-)

Dive spots are still a problem with our local beaches still dodgy and access limited. A mate dived Tiffanies (brave boy!!) and said that the reef was very sanded up. I found the same thing at Christmas bay, all the mid depth 5 - 12m had been covered.

The feedback from the guys was that it was generally quiet this weekend. I suppose thats how it is in Autumn, but the south coast does start to operate so we will keep our ears open to whats going down.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Sorry the updates have been slow and erratic lately, my adsl has been down, and I have had to sneak reports from my cell and other hijacked computers.

I was up at Sordwana yesterday and we had a dive, epic conditions. You could see the surface from 30m, but unfortunately the current was very slow and fish action was also slow. I chased a few dart cuta swimming on the bottom, but they wern't too keen on having sprung steel in them.

That said Mike Cook had a Marlin swim up to him. He lined up and gave it a good shot. The spear didn't go through and he lost it. I think with the clean water the fish was a little further away than he expected and ... well thats were the big guns are a help.

I also got into the waster at Christmas Bay, the water was miffy and the North South was pushing. And there is a lot of sand on some of the 10m ledge, infact we totally missed it altogether.

There is hope for this week with some southerlies tomorrow and Thursday .... so lets keep an eye out. Did any of you get in this week end, let me know what went down.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Busy watching the opening scenes of Barret Harvey's 'AfricanSpearfishing Diaries' brilliant dvd. We watched it at Wahoo last niteand the thumbs up by everyone there.There is some great footage of Jaco shooting huge fish with a reelgun.An art I am keen on perfecting. It seriously gives you the advantageof not dragging a buoyline around, especially at depth.I did manage to get some copies from Barret so if you missed out justgive me a shout.

On the water front the south is here and I think this weekend will bea good one. You might have to travel south tho, thats if it does notcome right here at home.Dont forget the Varsity dive comp. There are some good prizes up forgrabs and a very well organised jol after with loads of lucky drawsand other prizes.Catch you later,Coatesman

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Hey guys just a reminder that our Club Meet this month is on Wednesday in Durban ......

And we heard that the Wahoo boys are having the premier of a new Spearo DvD .. and it is supposed to be the bomb!!

So we are going to go and gate crash their jol!!! And bring some Salty flavour to their club. I know Chris West has organised a braai and the whole 9 yards so it should be an absolute blast.

For the North coast guys meet me at the Bp Ballito at 6:30 and we will go from there. The rest of you we will see you at Wahoo Club House. Please wear a Salties Shirt of some sort it will be good to fly our colours!!!

Saturday, April 7, 2007

I got a call from Mike on Thursday evening saying that Hiberdene was clean and that the guys smashed the fish. The East was pumping at the time and I was not totally convinced there would be any vis left.

But with being so desperate Mike , Morne and myself met at 4bells and headed down south. I was super keen to dive, I had a a new reelgun from Shane at Freedivers. A nice 1.2m with his new barrel, he also customises the guns for my shop making them all black with only a touch of grey on some of the detailing. Looks very mean!! I also have a few mods like a double wrap with a 30cm bungie between the shooting line and the line on the reel.

Anyway we got down to Hiberdene and did the usual we do we park, and jump in routine, and by the time we hit the beach it was light enough to see that the water was good. Super stoked I jumped right in and Morne and Mike headed up the beach a bit.

Not knowing Hiberdene all that well having only dived it off a boat during comps. I decided to head out to 16 -18m and try find some bricks or fish what ever came first. I know that there are some deep ledges out there, but all I found was sand in 18m.

On the 16m mark there was plenty reef scattered between the patches of sand, nice cuta territory. It was not long before a cuta swam past while I was on the bottom. And it was a good fish too! I little nervous, not knowing how the new gun was going to preform I did not get all that close to the fish. The shot was perfect and at full range. The fish tore line off the reel as I made for the surface.

If you have never shot a cuta or large game fish with a reel gun I can seriously recommend it. Its a Blast!

After a long tussle, due to the fact that there is less drag with out the fish towing a gun and bouy line around, I got my fish. Super stoked I looked to see were the boys were and they were way on the inside, and it was pointless trying to call them.

I strung the fish and reloaded the gun and continued to drift down the reef in about16m. I eventually found a good ledge with some buggs in so I hooked my buoyline into the reef and dive untethered with the reelgun. My flasher was tide to my buoy and it was great to have the freedom of all the line and having to fetch the damn flasher after each dive.

The ledge had some great buggs, a bit deep in the back of the ledge, but each dive resulted in a bugg. Thats when I wasn't dealing with another cuta that fell pray to my new Freedivers reelgun.

But my fun was short lived when a Hammerhead pitched up. It was not a big shark, and my first reaction was "hey there fella" ... I love hammers! But when he did not go away and kept harassing me, I decided I had enough fish and I had my bag of buggs so I packed up and headed for shore.

My T-boned friend stuck with me the whole way to the mid-break ...... very persistent! But all is well that ends well, 3 cuta 15.8kg, 11.5kg and a dart of about 7kg was great especially after not diving for almost 3 weeks.

I was also super stoked with the Freedivers Reelgun. It shot perfectly straight and very smooth, and the reel is super solid. All in all I give it a thumbs up BIG TIME.

On the weather side the south west is blowing and the sea is already looking like we might dive at home tomorrow! Let keep our eye on it .... and if not down south near Hiberedene is always an option.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Sorry for the late report today ... was on the road early for work! Might as well work hard while the diving is out.

But I am upbeat, driving back from Durban Tongaat looked like it was cleaning up, not dive-able but it was not the brown muck we have had for 2 weeks.

The forecasts show the south coming on Friday and Saturday so we should get in some time this week end. And if you take a look at the sharks board report you will see that there is 6m vis down south. So there is hope!

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Well if you are looking for good news ... this is not the place. The south west that was looking like it was going to push on Friday will only really start pushing on Saturday. And its not that strong!Its also followed by a some strong easts on Monday .... pleeeease let the forecast be wrong!!!

Monday, April 2, 2007

A whole week of east winds, the sea is still brown and full of miff. All the rivers down south are open and we are into the second week since the big swell wrecked everything. Man this sux!

Then to top all that there is a cyclone off Madagascar ... not to big and quiet far away ...but it could just build and head our way. If that happens it will be here just in time for the long week end. Splendid!

Just a heads up, because of the club meet falling on Friday the public holiday, we have moved it to Wednesday 11th and will be held in Durban. I will keep you posted with more info as and when the venue is confirmed.